


Introduction to Cybertronian biomechanics

by YvannaIrie



Category: Transformers (Aligned continuity), Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, In-Universe Document, Non-narrative fiction, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22089964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvannaIrie/pseuds/YvannaIrie
Summary: A series of articles on the physiology and development of Cybertronians.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Energon and Sparks

This article is the first in a series about the physiology of Cybertronians. It will cover what sparks are made of and what properties they have as a result, one of the basic functions a spark has and common variants of spark structures in different types of mecha.

Sparks consist of pure Energon, and their individual structures and properties are informed by the volume and amount of energy that the comprising Energon has. This is because the elemental phases of Energon are dependent on purity and chemical energy[1], where a higher amount of elemental impurities and lower held charge tend towards a solid form (as well as lower reactivity). The purer the Energon, the more it behaves like a liquid, which is why most purified/fuel grade Energon tends to be liquid, as opposed to raw Energon crystals, or the more viscous frame grade Energon.[2]

Sparks are Energon that is 100% pure and holding the highest possible charge for their volume. The core of a spark behaves like plasma, and is surrounded by a corona of gas-phase Energon that is held in place by the magnetic field generated by the charge of the core. Gaseous Energon is found very rarely outside of the coronas of sparks[3], and most pure Energon outside of sparks does not hold enough charge to evaporate, becoming a compressible liquid instead.

The spark is a key component of the frame energy cycle, producing electricity from the charge in consumed fuel. This process has steps similar to human respiration. First, fuel grade Energon is taken into the spark chamber from the fuel tanks through primary fuel lines. In the spark chamber, the spark’s energy field causes the Energon to change phase. This treatment also extracts any impurities that are subsequently transferred to waste-processing. After the phase change, the primed fuel relieves most of its charge into the main power lines and the charge is transferred to _deep_ systems such as main- and secondary processing, as well as frame management. The leftover frame grade Energon is released into secondary fuel lines to power _surface_ or _peripheral_ systems, such as self-repair[4] and sensory systems, as well as armaments, including weaponry and integrated tools.

These are the processes creating the so-called _spark signal_ or _life signal_ of a frame. The primary components of a spark signal, transmittable and detectable from a distance, are as follows: 1. The sparkbeat created by the energy cycle. 2. The electromagnetic field of the spark and its corona. However, in a diagnostic sense a spark signal also includes the compound electromagnetic signal of the whole frame: main processing, main power transfer, and peripheral systems.

The function of a spark is to provide a root node with assembly instructions for the frame’s hardware, as well as the code base for the operating system and core software development suites. This will be further discussed in a separate post.

Outside of a singular, independent spark, sparks can also exist as entangled pairs/sets and gestalt sparks as found in combiners.

Sparks can be induced to enter a state of quantum entanglement, where changes in the state of one spark directly affect the state other, colloquially known as _spark bonding_. This has a harmonising effect on the sparks, causing the signals to start resembling each other in phase and period the longer the sparks are in a bonded state. It is very rare for a spark to be double-bonded (where sparks α, β and γ are bonded as αxβ and αxγ), because trying to reach two separate harmonies at once can destabilise one or both of the bonds, if not the spark itself. Conversely, multiply bonded sparks (αxβxγx...) are no different from pair-bonded ones, although they often retain more individually distinct signals. Spark entanglement and the changes it causes to the spark signal can also have noticeable changes to a frame’s functioning, as both sparks now bear the energy demands of both frames, leading to things like diagnostic overlap and vicarious awareness.

Twinned, split and forked sparks are all types of naturally occurring spark entanglement, all forming under slightly different circumstances. Some example cases are sparks colliding or splitting apart during their emergence from the Well of Allsparks, or becoming entangled during protoform development. So-called spark twins can occur regardless of frame type, and have many things in common with induced bonds, although the entanglement tends to be more persistent. The difference is noticeable in the spark signal itself - two entangled sparks are simply _nearing_ a similar signal, while twin sparks have nearly identical signals, to the point where they are often distinguishable only by comparing their compound frame signals.

A gestalt spark in its combined state is comprised of multiple cores within the same spark mantle. Unlike with entangled sparks, a gestalt spark’s signal is additive, a mixture of the singular spark signals. Creating a gestalt spark requires a great deal of energy to forcibly harmonise the component sparks into a functional equilibrium that can power all the myriad systems of a combiner frame. The additive nature makes a gestalt spark signal much stronger and more erratic than the previously discussed spark unions, resulting in difficulty of maintaining a consistent sparkbeat, which in turn makes gestalt sparks inherently unstable. The component sparks of a gestalt spark do not have to be entangled, although entanglement often helps stabilise the gestalt spark as spark signals similar to one another have an easier time synchronising.

* * *

[1] _Charge_ will be used in place of _chemical energy_ in this document. Neither is quite accurate, because Energon consists primarily of exotic particles with their own potential energy that can be converted to thermal, kinetic, electric etc. energy.

[2] The processed Energon cubes we see usually contain a binding agent that both makes them easier to store and less volatile. They’ll blow up pretty spectacularly, but not as spectacularly as similar liquid fuel grade. Energon cubes are sometimes referred to as _storage grade_ but technically processed Energon is all fuel grade.

[3] Energon can be excited into a gaseous state even with a large amount of impurities present, but this makes it highly reactive. As such, it's exclusively used in weaponry, from blasters to Energon gas grenades, and occasionally as a propellant in combustion weapons.

[4] The self-repair system is actually split between both deep and surface systems, although what is most commonly referred to as self-repair is peripheral self-repair. Deep repair is mostly used when materials for the peripheral system need to be synthesised out of frame grade Energon. Most of the time, the materials from the waste-processing reservoirs are used instead, as this is more energy efficient. Not all of the waste from the impurities ends up in the reservoirs, though – much of it is vented out of the frame as exhaust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to my friend RH for betaing and theorycrafting to get this done and my other friend Snazz for being game to pour fandom into a physics shaped mold with me.


	2. Frame development

This article will cover the emergence of sparks and the development of CNA[1] in Energon, and the assembly of a frame up to the protoform state and eventual activation.

Unlike raw, undifferentiated Energon, which occurs both as crystals and in liquid form under the surface of Cybertron, sparks emerge from the Well of Allsparks[2]. They usually appear in clusters of 5-20 individual sparks, expelled from the Well and accelerating into low orbit before falling back to the planet. As they fall, sparks come into contact with the electromagnetic field of the planet and other sparks, which induces the activation of assembly instructions present in Energon. Without this initial EM contact, the Energon in a spark will remain undifferentiated and never begin sequencing into CNA. While the protocode for CNA is present in all Energon, the initial EM contact with pure Energon is what triggers differentiation and leads to the development of a unique CNA sequence for each spark.[3]

A newly emerged spark has a much larger core than the eventual frame-housed spark, and after landing, the extra Energon from this larger core will disperse and infuse the ground metal around it. This metal will take on a liquid state like the Energon infusing it to form a _hot spot_. Hot spots are easily distinguishable from surrounding terrain by their high temperatures and steadily increasing EM activity. The initial infusion of differentiated Energon triggers the development of raw materials into _living metal_ [4] and eventually into a _construction nanite_ or _c-nanite colony_ that will begin refining the materials around them, siphoning fuel from their surroundings, and eventually constructing the various frame components based on instructions present in the newspark’s CNA.

Over the frame’s emergence, the hot spot will start off as a globule around one earth metre in diameter and grow until its diameter is roughly equivalent to the height of the emerging mech when fully mature. The formation of a hot spot and the rate at which the maturation occurs is determined by the composition of the ground of the landing site and the amount of Energon present, as the c-nanites require a variety of materials and large amounts of energy to be able to construct a healthy protoform. The development process does not have a set timeline, but rather the c-nanite colony will not proceed to a different stage of construction until the current one is fully finished. Development may stall or pause if materials or fuel are insufficient.

Frame development is divided into three stages. 1. Primary construction (spark containment, power transfer and main processing) 2.Secondary construction (structural management systems and raw material for the rest of the frame) 3. Tertiary construction (peripheral systems and armature). Software maturation starts as soon as primary construction is finished, as main processing and main memory modules come online and the spark-processor connection is established. At the end of the secondary construction stage, when the construction of the protoform is finished, part of the c-nanite colony undergoes differentiation, becoming the frame’s _assembly nanite_ or _a-nanite colony_. While c-nanites are capable of synthesising various materials out of Energon, a-nanites rely on existing materials, either from c-nanite production or the waste reserves of the frame. Before differentiation, the c-nanite colony finishes refining all the remaining materials necessary for construction, as material synthesising requires far more fuel than assembly from existing materials. In a mature frame, a-nanites comprise the bulk of the self-repair nanite colony, with c-nanites remaining dormant outside of cases of extreme injury.

During tertiary construction, the new repair nanite colony will assemble the peripheral systems and armature, and main- and secondary processing become fully activated. After the construction of the outer armour is finalised, the frame is considered fully mature and the mech will emerge from the hot spot. Software integration, such as the completion of hardware drivers for peripheral systems like sensors, integrated tools and other armaments is not finished at this point, so if a fuel source is not readily available to a newbuild, they will fall into protective stasis. Sparks in stasis locked frames consume very little energy and will remain viable for thousands of Earth years, but after the differentiation of the nanite colony it is no longer capable of modifying the frame’s codebase, and mecha are not capable of recovering from stasis lock under their own power.

Later stages of frame development are more prone to disruptions. Poor soil that lacks required compounds can lead to developmental defects, most commonly issues with _surface-_ or _paint_ _nanites_ [5], such as discoloration or charge sensitivity. Other common developmental defects are various sensor incompatibility issues, as well as other frame firmware development issues. Medics can expedite the integration process with readymade drivers.

It is possible to move a developing frame into controlled gestation conditions by extracting the protoform from its landing spot during primary development. Frame development in a spark hatchery follows a similar process as development in a naturally occurring hot spot, although moving it places the developing spark under high stress and will often result in slower overall development, even though it is easier to ensure the presence of necessary fuel and materials in a hatchery. Moving a developing frame after it enters secondary development is not advised unless the ground the hotspot is in is particularly poor with minerals or energy. It is recommended that sparks held in controlled gestation be exposed to as much EM contact as possible to ensure full CNA sequencing and healthy development.

* * *

[1] Cyber-nano algorithms or cybernucleic acid, depending on the translation.

[2] The Cybertronian creation myth involves their creator-god Primus, an entity living in the core of their home planet Cybertron. The Well of Allsparks is commonly thought to reach all the way to the core of Cybertron, so sparks are considered to originate directly from Primus.

[3] A mech’s personality also starts developing during early EM contact. Mecha who emerge from closely situated groups of hot spots have better-developed senses of self at the end of the frame maturation process, while isolated sparks often take longer to individualise, although this sense of self will continue to develop through EM contact even after the frame maturation process is finished and the mech becomes active.

[4] Living metal refers to any alloy that has differentiated Energon present in it, usually in the form of honeycomb microvessels within the structures filled with frame-grade and self-repair nanites. During the emergence stage, the entirety of the material in a hot spot is considered living metal although often over 50% of its volume will consist of differentiated Energon. Implants and parts replacement to mature mechs will be covered in a later article.

[5] Paint nanites are a type of a-nanite that covers armour and other parts of a frame that do not contain microvessels. They are specialised for this role and can power themselves through surface charge, rather than with frame grade Energon within a mech’s systems like the rest of the peripheral systems. A topcoat is usually applied over the paint nanites to protect them from unnecessary strain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to RH for betaing, and S/O to devilangelsol's fic [Sparks and Souls](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326869) for being a big inspiration while writing this, y'all should go read it.


	3. Primary systems: Energy production and spark containment

The next four chapters will cover the structure of a Cybertronian frame. Due to the high level of polymorphism exhibited by Cybertronians, frames are highly modular in construction. For clarity, their components are divided into three subgroups – primary, secondary and tertiary systems – based on their importance to function and lack of interchangeability between mecha. The primary systems covered in this article are comprised of the spark housing, power generation and main processing.

Spark containment consists of the _spark housing apparatus_ or the _spark chamber_ , incoming fuel lines and their filters, and the main power cables. The spark chamber is a hollow space, usually inside a mech’s chest cavity. Contained within is an interior set of control circuitry that helps maintain the magnetic field of the spark, and an external set of charge collectors that the electric current generated during the frame energy cycle grounds into. At the back of the spark chamber there is a distribution board that redirects the current into the main power lines.

As the spark loses volume during the construction of the frame, the magnetic field of the spark core weakens. The spark chamber’s primary function is to amplify the magnetic field of the corona into creating a magnetic spark mantle to maintain the core’s integrity in order to ensure that the spark cycles energy at a regular rate. A spark’s energy output is at its highest during the construction of the spark chamber during primary construction, so it is capable of withstanding and redirecting all of the charge generated during the frame energy cycle. However, it may suffer some light scarring during the initial states of spark entanglement or during spark interfacing. As the spark chamber is located within the well-armoured upper body, external damage rarely extends to the spark chamber. Mecha are only considered having suffered spark failure when their spark’s core loses cohesion, usually as the result of the dissipation of the spark mantle due to damage to the internal circuitry of the spark chamber.

Main processing consists of a frame’s main processor, its associated work memory, and the main _memory banks_. The Cybertronian processor develops through a cycle of self-evolution – early on during primary development, a portion of the c-nanites are dedicated to processor construction, with each subsequent new version of the main processor running a looping series of commands present in the codebase to test and refine the design of the processor so it may construct the next iteration of itself. This process continues until a set of conditions for processor performance present in the frame’s CNA sequence are reached.

As the processor goes through evolutions, the c-nanites construct crystal lattice to act as physical memory to facilitate the process. These lattices are commonly comprised of cubic zirconia synthesised by c-nanites, although other types of crystal, such as corundum, quartz, and diamond, may occur based on CNA and developmental circumstances[1]. This lattice which contains most of the hardcoded information critical to a frame’s functioning is non-volatile and read only, and will form the basis of the frame’s _memory banks_. As the final stage in main processing construction, the processor will generate a volatile copy of the current state of the processor and enough clear crystal lattice to act as random access memory space for holding this data[2], creating the work memory for the processor during its normal functioning.

Fuelling systems are also considered a part of the primary systems. Fuelling systems include the fuel tanks, their pumps, and the fuel lines feeding into the spark chamber and directly-fuelled systems with their own generators. Such directly-fuelled systems include weaponry and integrated tools. A fuel filtration system is constructed simultaneously with spark containment, so that as the spark stabilises into its eventual functioning cycle, it will have a fuel source available. However, unlike other primary systems, fuel tanks and fuel lines are not unique in construction and can be repaired and replaced fairly easily. Likewise, a disruption in fuelling is not catastrophic to functioning the same way a disruption in the other primary systems would be – without a fuel source the frame will go into _stasis lock_ instead of dying instantly. Stasis lock suspends normal electricity production and reduces the frequency of the frame energy cycle to maximise the viability of the spark.

In theory, as long as spark integrity is not compromised, all other damage to a frame can be repaired; in practice however, catastrophic damage to the processing unit will render most frames unviable for reconstruction. After main processing becomes active at the end of the primary construction phase, all signal control and service management is handed over to the frame’s main processor, which will then begin defining the frame’s management duty cycle based on the state of the autonomous nanite colony and the frame energy cycle. This duty cycle will become hardcoded into the frame operating system, so even while the spark can remain active, connecting it to a processor lacking the necessary duty cycle information will not allow the spark to manifest a consciousness.

Likewise, problems arise if the processor is undamaged, but the associated memory banks are damaged beyond data recovery. Memory encoding is broadly unique to the individual, and no common convention for transcoding memories at a high enough resolution to make them feel native exists. Mecha who have undergone memory repair from memories backed up with an encoding convention other than their native one report that the memories have a distinct feeling of unreality and lack of emotional context, and they’ve been observed to degrade faster even after having been transcoded back into their native encoding. Even using the native memory encoding mostly results in lossy files, and thus blurred recollection.

* * *

[1] Theoretically, memory lattice can be comprised of any sufficiently sturdy crystalline substance, but crystals comprised of elements significant to the frame’s construction – iron and other metals, silicon and other semiconductor metalloids, as well as carbon – tend to be rarer than zirconium-based memory. Although variation between memory encoding time and duration as well as memory degradation rate have been observed, different types of crystal lattice do not significantly differ in overall efficiency. The exact reason for the development of non-cubic zirconia memory banks is not known, but correlation between significant element memory banks and various self-repair deficiencies has been found.

[2] Main work memory size is also biased upwards, and is around 120-150% of the memory necessary for executing the frame’s main duty cycle. As the core processes optimise over time, the ratio of memory available to memory required goes up, improving the efficiency of the processing unit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Endless thanks to RH for betaing and her and Mezzo for originally helping me figure out the processor-side development (fun fact! That was the first part of this I had worked out!)


End file.
